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I hadn’t planned on watching this show, but kept hearing that it wasn’t half bad. On Christmas Day, while talking with my brother and his wife, they mentioned they’d watched two episodes and thought it was good. So the wife and I decided to give it a try.
We’ve now got just two episodes to go.
It’s entertaining….kind of like the love child of Hammer Horror and Harry Potter. The young lady playing Wednesday I think really does a great job as the character. She’s definitely channeling Ricci’s performance from the movies, but also adding in some quirks of her own. Morticia and Gomez are….iffy. They definitely look the parts, but I don’t think they carry that same feel in their mannerisms.
The rest of the cast, and the expansion of the weird into outright supernatural works rather well. The special effects are pretty solid. The primary locations of the town and school are creative. The humor is pretty solidly dark.
If you’re a fan of the old Addams Family TV series and movies, I recommend this.
I enjoyed it. It's basically "What if Nancy Drew went to Hogwarts" with Addams Family branding slapped onto it, and all of that is just fine.
It has its flaws (and I found the finale disappointing in several ways, but it's still worth watching), but I agree with Aberzombie that it's fun, and Jenna Ortega is a brilliant performer.
It was super fun that Christina Ricci got a prominent recurring role as well.
I also really liked Gwendoline Christie in this and wish her part had been written more consistently.
I liked the setting and the atmosphere.
I appreciate that they attempted a slightly different spin with Morticia and Gomez (while looking very much like the Addams cartoons) but at the same time agree there's something that doesn't quite click there. I'm used to Gomez generally being portrayed as much more manic (a la John Astin or Raul Julia); he was weirdly... lethargic. I like that Catherine Zeta Jones' Morticia played up a maternal feel--and I feel like Morticia should be this balance of motherly but dark--but she was a little too sweet. I have a feeling if it gets another season they'll be able to round out the other Addams characters a little better. Obviously with Wednesday being the focus I wasn't too expectant of a lot of time to get the others right.
RPG Superstar 2008 Top 32, 2011 Top 16
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I enjoyed it quite a bit, even though I had super low expectations. It definitely helps that it's the brain child of Tim Burton, which I hadn't realized going in.
As for Gomez and Morticia, they weren't fully developed in part because we only saw them in their interactions with Wednesday. It's like judging any parents only based on how they're dealing with and interacting with a troubled child - doesn't show them individually, but in parent mode only. So for me, that was fine, since the show was completely focused on Wednesday. The one family member I didn't enjoy, despite loving the actor was Uncle Fester. He came off as too funny but in a forced way, and too ridiculous instead of creepy. I admit, I never watched a lot of the TV show or read the comics it's all based on, so maybe that's accurate for the character, but still felt out of place for me.
More the brain child of series creators Al Gough and Miles Millar
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The wife and I finished the series last night. Overall, it was entertaining, and I look forward to a second season.
Some thoughts:
This version of Hyde was….interesting. And it seems at least two of the villains survived to fight another day.
I didn’t think I’d like Eugene, but he grew on me. I was surprised at the conclusion of his story arc.
I was sorry to see the death of Weems. An interesting character that I wish we’d get to see more of. With her death, and I’m guessing the imprisonment of Miss Thornhill/Laurel Gates, they’ll have to introduce more staff if there’s another season.
And indeed Season Two has been announced.
This is an interesting one where if you go into die-hard Addams Family fan forums and the like people do nothing but say how bad it is, but clearly viewership and general buzz has been roaringly positive. (Personally, while I wouldn't call myself an obsessive Addams Family fan, I liked the the 90s films, the sitcom, and the original New Yorker cartoons all quite well, and I feel like this is a fine addition to the franchise. Definitely oriented toward younger viewers, but that's not a bad thing, and this middle-aged viewer still found plenty to enjoy.) I always wonder what occurs in a person's head and when the line is drawn for those who decide one particular moment in a fandom-driven franchise is the One True and all others must be ergo awful.
Aberzombie, btw I totally agree with you on Weems. The character had huge potential, and the actress is phenomenal. Why waste both? I did like a lot of what they did in the show; this is one thing I was sorry to see happen though.
Sadly I had to give up most of my streaming accounts (though I've been known to borrow family passwords but of course Netflix put a stop to that). So I probably just won't watch it. Hope I will see it at some point.
The thing that makes me want to see it most is Joanna Lumley as Grandma. Very different take on the character, but you can't beat Carol Kane's version so why not go in a different direction? And Patsy Stone as an Addams is just ghoulishly perfect (not that I would expect Lumley to play the same character but the comparison conjures the right image).
Also of course love Ortega as Wednesday, although I'm not wild on some of the plot beats I'm seeing... hard to put my finger on it, but there's something about the way they've given her powers that I struggle with.
just started season 2 and we do seem to have dropped the "Generic Angsty Hot Boys" from season 1
Buscemi makes for a fun antagonist for her. He seems harmless but you can see the "Outcast Supremacist" peeking out.
Plus looks like we are going to do some interesting things with Puggsly.
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The wife and I finished up part one of season 2 last night. So far, I'm enjoying it, but I think season 1 had a tighter, better written story, with better pacing across the whole season.
At first, I thought the Pugsley story arc was just to give the character....something. Now I see it's far more integral to the overarching story.
I look forward to the second half of the season, though I'm bummed we have to wait another month. Still, after waiting years for season 2....
I think it's probably just Fan-shipping (unless something happens after the Camp episode that I'm not aware of)
In the first season she had more chemistry with Enid than either of the two male leads and people picked up on it.
Personally though I don't think Wednesday is a character who has tolerance for romance of any sort. But Enid is hers so she is miffed at the idea of someone killing her.
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Well, the wife and I finished Season 2 last night. We were....unimpressed.
Most of the cast did a decent enough job. Except Luis Guzman. The best that can be said about him is he LOOKED like Gomez. He certainly didn't act like a Gomez. That's not his fault, though. That's the show writers and producers. And I do think both he and Katherine Zeta-Jones are way too old for their roles. That was easier to hide in season 1, when we didn't see as much of them.
The story was....everywhere. And that was the true weakness of this season. We had at least two major story arcs, and several smaller arcs. I think the big arcs could have been much more interesting if they had settled on just one and focused more on fleshing it out. Personally, I'd have liked more of a focus on the Morning Song cult. Expand on that and all the manipulations and dangers of a cult. That could have been season 2. Then the other major story arc could have been saved for a season 3.
Of course, to do that they'd needed less than 3 years between seasons....
Anyway, I don't see myself watching a season 3. Although they're at least promising that sometime next year, instead of 2028.
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Another thought - overall, I’m not too thrilled about the portrayal of the Addams family as just another dysfunctional family where different generations just fight and argue. I always liked the old way, where they seemed more or less a happy family, just really weird and morbid. We get enough dysfunctional in the rest of Hollywood (and real life I suppose).
Maybe younger folk like that sort of thing….